Joey Tempest

Joey Tempest (born Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson on August 19, 1963 in Upplands VÃ¤sby, Sweden) is the vocalist and main songwriter in the Swedish hard rock band Europe. He has written hits like "The Final Countdown", "Rock the Night" and "Superstitious".

Like many of the other Europe members, he grew up in Stockholm suburb Upplands VÃ¤sby. His biggest idols were Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin. During his teens, he played in a number of bands such as Made in Hong Kong and Roxanne. At that time he alternated between playing rhythm guitar and bass, in addition to lead vocals. In 1979 he formed the band Force, together with guitarist John Norum, drummer Tony Reno and bassist Peter Olsson. Three years later, Force had changed their name to Europe.

Tempest played the keyboards on the first two Europe albums before the band decided to recruit keyboardist Mic Michaeli in April 1984. Interestingly enough, it was Michaeli who had lent Tempest the keyboard he used to compose the main keyboard riff in the song "The Final Countdown" years earlier. During a jam session in 1985, Michaeli and Tempest en...